


Legitimate Excuses

by helsinkibaby



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, Het, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 03:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13778493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Penelope and Henry meet a dog at the park. And the dog's owner.





	Legitimate Excuses

**Author's Note:**

> For one million words February bingo. Prompt cute meet

"Penelope, look at the dog." 

Expecting to see something cute and small and fluffy, Garcia's eyes followed Henry's pointing finger across the park. The dog at which he was pointing, though, was neither small nor fluffy and couldn't legitimately be called cute. Beautiful, yes, but the German Shepherd was way too big to be even remotely thought of as cute. In fact, it was big enough that it could easily have knocked Henry down if the dog had run at him at speed and Garcia found herself stepping in between Henry and the dog, just in case. She was here to take care of Henry, to let JJ get some rest while the new baby was sleeping, and she knew her friend wouldn't take kindly to some Cujo-like creature deciding that her first born was a tasty snack. 

Except that the dog didn't look like it meant any harm. Instead it trotted towards Garcia and Henry, stopping about two feet away from them. As its tail wagged from side to side, it dropped the the tennis ball that was in its mouth, then looked up at Garcia and Henry, once more wagging its tail with an almost expectant look on its face. If it were human, Garcia thought that it would be batting its eyelashes. "I think it wants to play catch," Henry said and the kid wasn't wrong. 

Still, with memories of Cujo floating around in her head, Garcia was not about to take any chances, not with her precious godson.

“Stay back,” she ordered, not sure who she was actually talking to, closing the distance between the dog and them, reaching out and lifting the ball, tossing it as far as she could. Which, if Henry’s giggles were any indication, wasn’t very far, which Garcia understood completely – sports had never been her forte. The dog didn’t seem to care though, haring after the ball like a bullet from a gun, and when it caught it, turned around neatly and loped back over to where Garcia was standing, tail wagging even faster as it dropped the ball at Garcia’s feet and grinned – and there was no other word for what that dog was doing, not even close – up at her.

“It wants you to do it again,” Henry told her, and Garcia might even have reached down and done just that were it not for that fact that at that very moment, a man came jogging out of the trees, calling out, “Roxie… Roxie…”

The dog whipped around, went galloping over to him but not before the man stopped, his eyes widening as he took in the sight before him, what was obviously his dog sitting in front of a woman and child. Even from a slight distance, Garcia could see the look of alarm cross his face and she had a pretty good idea of what he was thinking. He looked nervous as he came across to them, the dog – Roxie, Garcia now knew – trotted obediently behind him and he took his time, giving Garcia plenty of time to notice that, even with a worried frown on his face, the dog’s owner was a damn good-looking man. Tall and broad, he had thick curly black hair that Garcia would give her eye teeth to run her fingers though and she’d bet every penny in her bank account that if he were ever to smile in her direction, it would take her breath away.

She shut that train of thought down as quickly as she could – she was here to babysit her godson, keep him safe from harm. Not fantasise about some good-looking dog owner that they ran in to.

“Hi,” he said when he was in front of them. “Look, I’m really sorry about my dog… she never usually runs off like that, I don’t know what’s got into her…”

“It’s fine,” Garcia said, like she hadn’t been worried about the dog attacking them. “I think she just wanted to play.”

“Still.” The man’s expression was caught somewhere between relief and wariness. “A lot of people see her and think she’s dangerous.” His eyes slid off Garcia, landed on Henry. “I hope she didn’t scare your son too much.”

Garcia blinked in surprise, then shook her head as Henry piped up. “I’m not scared.”

The man laughed then bent down and picked up the ball that was lying beside Roxie’s front paws. “You want to throw it for her?” Then he looked quickly at Garcia. “If that’s ok, of course.”

Henry looked up at Garcia, his eyes wide and questioning. Ruffling his hair, she gave him a smile. “Go for it.”

Henry’s first attempt at throwing didn’t fare too much better than Garcia’s, and the man chuckled again, hunkered down so he was on Henry’s eye level and gave him some pointers on how to throw the ball. A few throws later and the ball was going twice as far, Henry grinning with delight and Garcia wondering how on earth she was going to explain to JJ and Will how their son was no doubt going to be coming home demanding a puppy.

“He’s a great kid,” the man said as they watched Henry running up to meet Roxy half way and Garcia chanced a look up at him only to see him looking down at her. In particular, he was looking at her left hand and Garcia fought back a smile.

“He is. But Henry’s not mine… he’s my godson.” The man’s eyes met her then and he grinned. “I’m Penelope, by the way.”

“Luke.” He reached out and shook her hand. His grip was strong, firm and he didn’t break eye contact with her. “So, Penelope…” He said her name slowly and Garcia liked the way that her name sounded on his lips. “Would you like to maybe get some coffee… maybe some i-c-e c-r-e-a-m for Henry?”

He spelled it out, said it quietly so that Henry wouldn’t hear him, which Garcia appreciated. For a moment, she was tempted. Incredibly tempted. But the common sense – or perhaps fear of JJ – won out. “We probably shouldn’t,” she said regretfully. “I have him out here because his mom just had a baby a few weeks ago and I was over visiting and the baby fell asleep, so I took Henry out so that she could get some sleep too… I’m supposed to be tiring him out, not giving him a sugar high.” She was sort of babbling, she knew, but Luke was smiling and nodding which she was taking as a good sign. “Sorry?”

“Hey, I understand completely. Beware the wrath of the sleep deprived right?” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Roxie running towards them. “Then how about- “

Whatever he was intending to ask her was lost to the sands of time as Roxie bounded over and, in the height of excitement, dropped her ball at Garcia’s toes and then, with a happy yip, brought her two front paws up to land squarely on Garcia’s chest. Garcia laughed in sheer surprise and delight as Roxie licked her face and she dimly registered Luke muttering something that didn’t sound very happy.

His reasoning became all too clear as he laid his hand on Roxie’s collar, said, “Down, girl,” in a tone that was one that the dog obeyed instantly. That was when Garcia noticed how muddy the dog’s paws were, and that a good portion of that mud was now clinging to the top of her dress and her cardigan. Shaking her head, she looked over at Henry, who was trying to hide his giggles behind his hands, probably due to the amount of warnings Garcia had given him over the years about not getting himself too dirty in case his mom didn’t let her take him out on her own any more. “This is why your mom and dad won’t let you get a dog,” she told him, and it only made him laugh harder.

“I’m so sorry.” But Luke was smiling even as he apologised and yep, she’d been right. He really did have one hell of a smile. “But now I have a legitimate excuse to ask for your number… I’m going to have to see you again to pay for your dry cleaning.”

He didn’t sound sorry about that and Garcia tilted her head, lifted one eyebrow in challenge. “You don’t have to do that,” she told him, just to see what he’d say.

She wasn’t disappointed. “Oh, I do. But even if I didn’t? I’d still ask for your number.”

Garcia thought about it for all of a few seconds before she said, “And I would still let you have it.”


End file.
